[65] in linux-announce channel archive
Expect 5.12
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Lars Wirzenius)
Sun Jan 1 10:28:52 1995
Date: Sun, 1 Jan 1995 16:26:39 +0200
From: Lars Wirzenius <wirzeniu@cc.helsinki.fi>
To: linux-activists@niksula.hut.fi, linux-announce@vger.rutgers.edu
X-Mn-Key: announce
From: tpg@mr.net (Terry Gliedt)
Subject: Expect 5.12
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce
Keywords: Expect, Tk, interactive, programs
Approved: linux-announce@tc.cornell.edu (Lars Wirzenius)
Followup-to: comp.os.linux.misc
Expect 5.12
I have recently put expect-5.12.{lsm,tgz} on sunsite in Incoming. In
due time it should migrate to pub/Linux/system/Shells. I did not write
expect, but simply have used it and am making the binary I created
available. This will require you have installed one of the many
versions of TCL that are available at sunsite. I'm not really in a
position to answer questions about expect - except how I made it. See
the documentation that comes with the package for more.
Terry Gliedt
tpg@mr.net or tpg@hps.com
http://www.hps.com
What is Expect (from the help file)
Expect is a program that "talks" to other interactive programs according
to a script. Following the script, Expect knows what can be expected
from a program and what the correct response should be. An interpreted
language provides branching and high-level control structures to direct
the dialogue. In addition, the user can take control and interact
directly when desired, afterward returning control to the script.
Expectk is a mixture of Expect and Tk. It behaves just like Expect and
Tk's wish. Expect can also be used directly in C or C++ (that is,
without Tcl). See libexpect(3).
The name "Expect" comes from the idea of send/expect sequences
popularized by uucp, kermit and other modem control programs. However
unlike uucp, Expect is generalized so that it can be run as a user-level
command with any program and task in mind. (Reg.)can actually talk to
several programs at the same time.
For example, here are some things Expect can do:
o Cause your computer to dial you back, so that you can login without
paying for the call.
o Start a game (e.g., rogue) and if the optimal configuration doesn't
appear, restart it (again and again) until it does, then hand over
control to you.
o Run fsck, and in response to its questions, answer "yes", "no" or give
control back to you, based on predetermined criteria.
o Connect to another network or BBS (e.g., MCI Mail, CompuServe) and
automatically retrieve your mail so that it appears as if it was
originally sent to your local system.
o Carry environment variables, current directory, or any kind of
information across rlogin, telnet, tip, su, chgrp, etc.
There are a variety of reasons why the shell cannot perform these tasks.
(Try, you'll see.) All are possible with Expect.
In general, Expect is useful for running any program which requires
interaction between the program and the user. All that is necessary is
that the interaction can be characterized programmatically. Expect can
also give the user back control (without halting the program being
controlled) if desired. Similarly, the user can return control to the
script at any time.
===================================================================
Terry Gliedt tpg@hps.com tpg@mr.net MIME OK 507/356-4710
HomePage Services http://www.hps.com
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